Leader, manager, administrator, visionary, woman of faith, humble servant of the Lord, these are but a few of the ways Gladys Thomas can be described.

Gladys grew up in a family of eleven children in the village of St. Michel de l'Attalaye in the plateau region of Haiti. Her father was a clergyman in the local church. At a young age, Gladys became quite ill and found comfort and healing by turning to God. From that time forward she turned her life over to the Lord.

After completing her secondary school education in Haiti, Gladys went to the United States to study nursing. While she enjoyed much about life in the United States, she was committed to returning the Haiti. After receiving her degree, she went back to Port-au-Prince. She did not know how she would best serve, but she did recognize that her heart called her to work with children.

In 1981 Gladys was called by those responsible for the Caribbean Home for Children asking if she would become the head of the orphanage which had been abandoned by its previous administrator. Gladys arrived to find the kitchen bare and the mattresses infested. With great faith, Gladys ordered that the mattresses be burned. As smoke from the burning mattresses filled the air, the phone rang bringing an inquiry from an American asking how he could be of help. On a recent trip to Haiti, he had stopped by the run-down orphanage and wanted to help. In her forthright manner, Gladys told him that not only did the home need new mattresses, but beds and much else. As they say, the rest is history.

Money for the mattresses and beds came quickly, and from that day Gladys has trusted God to provide. She also continues to be quick to ask for whatever is needed.....sometimes asking for what others would believe to be impossible: construction of a pediatric hospital during a national embargo, land and buildings to house a village of children. Nothing in Haiti comes easily. There have been, and continue to be, great challenges; but Gladys is always quick to give credit to God for all that has been accomplished. She takes great joy in the hugs of children living at Haiti Home, continuing to know them each by name, and pleasure in the success of those who grew up at the orphanage and now continue to greet her with hugs and salutations of, "Momma Thomas!"

Gladys was selected to by the Haven Initiative of Dublin, Ireland, to be honored as the recipient of its 2013 William Jefferson Clinton